From spring 1948 till his
death, Mannerheim resided permanently in Switzerland, in the private hospital of Val-Mont
on Lake Geneva in the neighbourhood of Montreux.

Mannerheim occupied the second floor, but purchased an additional room on the third floor
for his literary work. The clinic of the hospital was not sufficiently equipped to deal
with more serious cases of illness, so that the patient had often to be taken to a
hospital in Lausanne.

In Val-Mont, Mannerheim wrote his memoirs on the basis of the
texts drafted by his assistants, who lived in the neighbourhood, in Montreaux and in the
village of Glion-sur-Montreaux. In those days, Mannerheims closest friend was
Countess Gertrud dArco Valley, who paid frequent visits to Mannerheim from her
residence in Monte Carlo and accompanied him on his trips.

Later on, the people of
Switzerland constructed a park south of Val-Mont (Parc Mannerheim) on Lake Geneva and
erected there a statue of Mannerheim.